


Crimson Shadows

by namelessgal



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, But also real person academy, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Its really gay, M/M, Modern Day, Monster Hunter AU, Monster Hunters, Monster Hunters Acadmey, no beta we die like foolish writers, no proof reading either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23137126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namelessgal/pseuds/namelessgal
Summary: Garreg Mach University. To most, it was one of the most exclusive and prestigious Universities in the world, known for many of their alumni becoming world leaders in several different fields. To a select few, however, it was more than just an esteemed university; it was the bastion of the side of the light in a secret war that had been raging for a millennium.With the enrollment of the next generation of hunters, the war of shadows begins to enter the light. The return of a lost hunter and his twin children leaves the Dean of the school acting strange, and the even stranger are the events that seem to encircle the twins. As the odd Byleth has captured the Dean’s attention, her own attention is captured by the secretive student who hides more than Byleth’s own father. As events unfold, each twin must decide where they stand in the secret war. But the side of the light has more darkness then anyone could have anticipated.OR:The three houses attend a university for degrees, hunt monsters, Edelgard starts a war and finds out just how gay she is.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

There was nothing particular about that night that should’ve been giving Byleth this feeling of unease. It was cold, but not terribly so, with a slight breeze, but there was no rain, no thunder, no full moon, no shadowed darkness. Yet, the weight on her shoulder would not abate. She shuddered, and made sure her satchel was clasped securely to her side. 

“Would you relax?” Her brother, Beryt, ask languidly, kicking his feet up on the desk and leaning back, hands behind his head, releasing a puff of breath to get shaggy dark blue bangs out of his eyes. His boots dangerously tipped a stack of papers, chair tipping back and forth, trying to find a good balance. She pushed his feet off the desk, causing Beryt to lose balance and slam his feet back on the ground. 

“You’re dirtying the reports.” Her voice held no emotion, nor did her expression, not that was unusual. He scowled at her, handsome face contorting. “Since you’re already there, why don’t you start filling them out.” He made another face, but pulled the stack towards him nevertheless, spinning a pen between his fingers. 

“Paperwork is the _worst_.” He muttered, something that Byleth could agree with. The two were at their father’s small office, sitting in the front as he dealt with a customer with an unusual circumstance in the back. The walls were stained an ugly yellow, the color made more offensive by the dimming and flickering fluorescent lights. There was an old wooden counter that separated the back office and Beryt’s desk from the main entrance, a few worn but comfortable chairs scattered in the foyer, some old magazines on a beat up coffee table. Byleth stood behind this counter, her laptop opened to a forum on strange events in the area. 

“Would you rather be doing the research part?” He grinned at her. 

“Nah, I’ll leave you to that, you do ever so seem to enjoy picking the truth from the shit.” It was her turn to scowl at him, and the two returned to working in silence. It didn’t take long before there was another interruption.

 _Well this is boring._ Only years of the apparition following her prevented Byleth from being startled at her sudden appearance. She looked up from the forum complaining of hauntings, to see the upside-down face of what looked like to be a young, green-haired child floating before her. She flipped over, so that she was right side up, but remained in what would be a laying position, crossing her legs behind her and flipping her long hair back, revealing long pointed ears. 

_Can’t we do something a little more fun?_ She asked, a bored look pinching her young face. Byleth raised a tired brow. The feeling of unease still had not abated. _Oh come on~_ the girl whined in a voice that would benefit someone of her age, if she was actually the age that she appeared.

“We have reports to fill.” Beryt looked up, pen pausing mid stroke. He glanced around the foyer quickly, seeing no one his sister could be talking to.

“Ah,” He put his pen down as both the floating girl and Byleth turned to look at him. “Is Sothis back? I didn’t sense her this time.” The girl, Sothis stuck her tongue out at him, despite knowing that he couldn’t see her. Byleth merely nodded.

 _You can’t sense me because I didn’t want you to, you dope._ Byleth did not relay her words to her brother. 

“She’s been sleeping longer. What’s she storing her power for?” Byleth said nothing. Sothis had indeed been asleep longer this time than before, leaving Byleth feeling tired and weakened, like something was leeching at her strength. Sothis’s face pinched with guilt and she seemed to shrink back.

“She can’t control it.” Byleth’s defense fell flat.

“She’s like a leech when she sleeps. Takes your energy away. Makes you a liability and shuts you down.” It was true, but…

“She’s helped us many times.” Sothis remained silent, still feeling guilty, even as her host defended her. Her brother huffed and crossed his arms as he stood, coming to her side by the counter. 

“And every time she does, there is a price, one that you pay.” He leaned against the counter, forcing Byleth to look in his cobalt eyes that matched her own. 

“Can we not do this right now?” She hissed, looking over her shoulder, toward their father’s office, like he could hear them - which he probably could if he wasn’t distracted. Her brother followed her gaze. 

“Fine. But we are still going to talk about this. When Pa leaves.” She sighed gruffly. Almost as if on cue, the door to the office opened and the customer, a middle aged woman with mousy brown hair stepped out, their father’s handkerchief clutched in her hand as her shoulders shook, their father gently leading her out. The stench of cigarette smoke followed them out, and their father seemed to be holding his breath

“We’ve done all we can.” He was saying gently as the pair walked to the front, the cloud of cigarette following them, accompanied with the salty taste of tears. “What your daughter needs now is bedrest, some light, and - “ he held his hand out towards the twins as they passed, Byleth quickly reaching into her satchel to pull a package of tea leaves and a vial. 

“Two drops of this,” Their father held up the vial, “Mixed with this tea, once a day until the entire vial is gone.” The woman nodded, taking the proffered items with shaking hands.

“Th-thank you Jeralt,” she blubbered. “Without you, I- I don’t know what would’ve happened!” She resumed crying into the handkerchief, loudly blowing her nose, as the Jeralt and his children politely averted their eyes from her moment of vulnerability. 

“Your daughter would’ve likely die, had you not contacted us.” Byleth said with all of the grace of a raging wyvern in a delicate china shop. Her brother elbowed her in the side, and Sothis introduced the palm of her hand to her forehead with a loud smack. The woman began sobbing harder, blubbering her thanks even more as Jeralt ushered her out the door. As soon as the door closed behind her, Jeralt turned around, a stern look on his scarred and grizzled face. 

Without looking, he flipped the sign from open to close, a sigh escaping his lips as glyphs of protection shimmered in the air around the door. He puffed the air out of his nose, scrunching it, like a dog trying to dispel a bad scent. 

Jeralt looked to her, the years making themselves known in the lines of his face as he dragged his hand down it, his muscular shoulders sagging, hand coming to a stop to pinch the space between his eyes. 

“Really kid?” A hand came to his waist, pushing back his beige blazer, revealing the butt of a gun with symbols carved into it. Byleth stared at him blankly, trying to ignore the apparition of Sothis wrangling her hands towards Byleth’s neck using some colorful language. Jeralt takes a step towards the twins, hands raised.

“By, you can’t just say that kind of shit to humans.” He pleads. “They’re minds can’t really handle it or if they can they don’t handle it well. We’re running a highly unusual operation here and if the Council finds out -”

“They’ll do something we won’t come back from,” The twins and Sothis chimed in as one. It was a sentence the three of them had heard often throughout the twins’ childhood. Jeralt sighs, and looks to the ceiling. 

“What did I do to get such bratty children?” There’s fondness that undercuts his words. 

“You had sex with mum.” Beryt said, seemingly calling on his sister’s monotone voice.

 _Well that’s disgusting,_ Byleth raised a brow in agreement. 

“That’s disgusting, Ryt.” Jeralt threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“I am so not doing this right now. Finish those reports and take inventory.” He started to make his way back to his office. “Oh and make sure that we don’t need to put in another order of Iron and blessings.” He called over his shoulder before disappearing into his back office. Byleth rolled her eyes at her brother, pulling the clipboard out from under the counter. She held it up for her brother to see, and he held up a pen in response. Byleth could see Sothis roll her eyes out of the corner of her eye. 

“The usual?” Her brother held out a fist. 

“The usual.” Byleth put down the clipboard and held out a fist as well. In sync, they pounded their fists into their free palms four times, the only noises that of their hands, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights, and the soft wind from outside. They stopped, Beryt holding out a fist, and Byleth two fingers. He bumped his fist on top of hers.

“I win.”

“Best two out of three?”

“Not a chance,” He handed her the clipboard and pen a little too happily. Sothis stuck her tongue out at him, pulling childishly at her eye lid. 

“Sothis, I can feel you making faces at me.” In response, she put her thumbs to her temples and waggled her fingers.

“Such a child,” _I am not!_

Byleth huffed at the two, blowing the now faint scent of cigarettes out of her own nose, as she headed to the back store room, Sothis floating behind her. 

“Don’t forget the gloves! Wouldn’t want a rash from the silver.” Beryt called cheerfully. Without turning around, Byleth raised her middle finger, but did grab a pair of disposable gloves before entering the back.

It was dark in the back room, except for a few glowing artifacts. Byleth’s hand reached out to where she knew the light switch was, and fumbled for a moment before finding it. The lights slowly flickered on, one by one, revealing several large metal shelves, overflowing with odds and ends and a deep groove on the cement floor before all of them. 

Tucking the clipboard under her arm, Byleth pulled the rubber gloves on with her teeth, and crouched down next to the floor. The groove shimmered for a moment, and Byleth could see the barrier, the runes fading in and out of existence before her eyes. She put two fingers of her left hand against the groove, and two of her right hand rest above her heart. Reaching deep inside her, eyebrows pinched, Byleth felt for the thread of the barrier that tickled against her own inner pool of magic. Grabbing hold of it in her mind’s eye, she took in a breath and began to chant in a dead and forgotten language that was heavy on her tongue. Slowly, carefully, she pulled her left hand away from the barrier, fingers now pinched, towards her right hand and chest. Once her hands met, she pushed them out, chanting quietly to herself, feeling the energy at the edge of her fingers dissipate. With a sigh, the barrier shimmered once more, before sinking into the groove on the ground and Byleth took a step forward.

 _Ya know,_ Sothis propped her face in her hand, _This place is like super creepy. Like, suuuupppperr creepy._

Byleth ignored her comment, and continued forward. This place was indeed super creepy, as the apparition had said, but she had grown with this sort of creepy being her normal. The shelves were all engraved with slightly glowing runes, and were home to several different items. Some shelves held jars with still moving eyes, or twitching sludge in them, some held ancient bones that seemed to whisper as the two passed, some held rusted weapons that, in a certain light, glinted like they were covered in fresh blood. Yet, Byleth ignored all of these and headed to the back shelves. These shelves, seemed more innocent, filled with jars of powders and liquids, but were perhaps the most dangerous shelves, with the least amount of ruins. Of course, weapons like these were only dangerous in the hands of those who knew how to properly implement them.

She stopped before the shelves, held out her clipboard and began to take inventory. Wolfsbane, check, silver powder, check, blessings of light, a little low, needs restrocking, blessing of rain, check. And so on and so forth. Once the first shelf was done, she moved on to the second shelf which was home to various amounts of blades; swords, axes, staffs and staves and many more. Before marking on her clipboard, Byleth would draw each weapon and inspect the blade, affirming that it was indeed sharpened and not rusting. She made a few notes on her clipboard and moved on. She was allowed almost an hour of quiet work before….

_I’m bored._

“Then find something to entertain yourself.” Sothis huffed at her response. 

_I’ve already acquainted myself with every inch of this stupid building._ She childishly stomped her foot against empty air. 

“Then I suggest you help me with inventory so that we finish faster.” Byleth didn’t even look up from her clipboard. Sothis, again, childishly stuck her tongue out at her. 

“I saw that.” With practiced ease, Byleth pulled a revolver off of the shelf she was now inspecting, pulled the hatch back and spun the chamber. Nodding, seemingly satisfied, she placed it back on the shelf, and made note on her clipboard. Suddenly, her pen froze above the paper, the feeling of unease becoming unbearable

_You feel that too?_

“Of course I feel it, we’re connected.” She set down her pen, and closed her eyes, once again reaching within herself to reach out, feeling beyond her physical limitations. She brushed by her brother, touching his shoulder with her presence for a moment to warn him, feeling him tense, readying himself at the familiar touch of her sense. Byleth pushed her sense to the outside, to the dark and tried to feel as far as she could - which wasn’t very far, just to the end of the parking lot. But there was a sense of fear and panic, and several very strong presences rushing towards the office. It crossed the threshold of the lot, and the feeling of dread, of anger slammed into Byleth, pushing her sense back to her physical body. The feeling of dread, anger, and fear followed her back, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to raise like a dog’s hackles.

“Danger is outside.”

 _I felt it too._ Sothis murmured. _Let us go from this cursed place and see what that is._ Byleth nodded, grabbing a pair of iron swords from the shelf as she marched past. Once she stepped over the boundary line again, the barrier activated, reaching out from the groove, twisting back to life. She pushed open the door to the backroom, back to the front, where her brother still leaned against the counter, phone in hand, but ignored, his attention instead peering out to the inky night. 

“Something’s wrong.” Her voice doesn’t give Beryt a start, and he straightens, putting his phone down, but never taking his eyes from the door, reaching a hand out behind him. Byleth presses the sword into his awaiting hand. 

“I hear howls. And blades.” Byleth went around to the front of the counter, hand coming in the air and drawing symbols. Glyphs around the door began to glow. 

“Get father, I’ll prepare the defenses.” 

“Were you able to tell what it was?”

“No, nothing but dread and anger. Something pushed me back.” Her free hand continues to draw in the hair, glowing golden light staying where her fingers traced the air, glyphs and runes hovering for a second before disappearing. Beryt cursed under his breath, and rushed to their father’s office, quickly slamming the door open.

“We have a situation.” Jeralt was out of his office in a second, taking in the sight of his daughter drawing protective runes, and immediately draws the revolver hanging from his side. The tip of the muzzle glows a silver light once in his hands.

“What’s coming?” He grunts. 

“By said something pushed her back when she reached. I heard howls. Not wolf howls, unearthly howls.” Jeralt took in a deep breath, tongue coming out to taste the air.

“Smell indicates undead - rotting flesh. A pack. Wait,” His tongue darted out again, head tilted. “I taste fresh blood. And I hear shoes. They’re chasing prey.” Byleth nodded at this new information, and changed the glyphs that she was writing. 

“Undeads?” Jeralt nodded at his son’s question. “I can smell rotten flesh. Either ghouls or fexts. Goddess, I hope it’s not fexts.”

“Finished the wards.” Byleth stepped back to stand with her brother and father. “Shall we wait here?” She reached into her satchel, pulling out vials of blessed water and a large pouch of salt. Beryt held out a hand, taking the salt from his sister, grabbing a handful and spreading it against his blade, before whispering a chant into the bag and dumping the salt along the threshold of the door. Byleth hands her father a vial of the blessed water and carefully pours some over her own blade. 

“Yes,” Jeralt takes the vials. “Their prey are almost here anyways. Better to have a defensible position.” Beryt joins them again.

“Do you think we’ll need the memory potions?” The questions falls from his lips, and is answered with a shrug of broad shoulders.

“One is injured, and the physical harms are always harder to hide.” Jeralt checks his chamber, counting the bullets. Three blessed glass bullets, and three iron, all engraved. The howls grew closer, and the twins readied their blades. Jeralt sighed and snapped the chamber to his revolver close. He grins at his kids, pride growing in his chest at their readiness.

“Just another Friday night, huh, kids?” The kids in question grin back at him.

“Just another Friday night.” Beryt says and his sister nods.

 _Insane._ Byleth can hear Sothis saying. _You’re all insane. It must run in the family._ Her voice took a musing tone. 

The lights in the parking lot flicker and sputter, before going out completely, the parking lot now in complete darkness, the only light coming from the office, bleeding into the inky night. Suddenly, from the shadows, bursts an odd form, limping and struggling from the night to the office. As it grew closer, Byleth could see that it was not one odd form, but three people, two holding up the one in the middle, practically dragging them, face contorted into a grimace of pain. It was two men, and a white haired woman. The man in the middle, the blonde’s leg was bleeding, torn to a shredded meat, but his eyes were alert and held none of the shock that would normally come with such a wound. 

The woman was looking behind them, something unseen clutched in the hand not supporting the injured man. The second man, a tanned and thin man with dark hair, something lashed to his back, took most of the other’s weight and together, the three slammed into the front of the office, blood smearing the window. 

“Well that’s going to be a bitch to clean.” Byleth murmured to her brother, who poorly concealed a snort. Jeralt marched forward, yanked the door open, the belling jingling and grabbed the injured man by the shoulder, dragging them in as one, as they yelped in surprise. Once the three were inside, Jeralt slammed the door closed, and the woman dropped the injured man on the other, fully revealing the item that was previously hidden. 

It was a full, silver battle axe, obviously well loved and used, covered in a thick, clotted green blood. She stood in a battle ready stance, hands gripping the shaft of the axe with ease, face set in a growl, long white hair seeming to almost rise in an unexisting wind. 

“Who are you?” She growled, sounding a bit out of breath. Jeralt held his hands up.

“We’re not going to hurt you.” Beryt placed the flat of his blade against his shoulder and knelt to where the injured man had fallen, beginning to try to staunch the blood flow. The blond man's face was very pale, and, as adrenaline began to fade, curses began to spill from his mouth. The second man had stood, pulling a bow off of his back and readying an arrow that shimmered in a way normal arrows don’t. His eyes flickered between Byleth, her twin, and their father, taking in their swords, ready stances, the salt at the door, and the glimmering runes. 

“Hey Princess,” The man murmurs. “Salt and iron.” The woman, the princess, drops the growl, but leaves the axe at the ready, eyes taking in what the man had said. She straightens out of the battle stance, but still keeps the axe ready. Jeralt drops his hands and turns around, peering out into the night once again. Byleth has already begun to trace new runes, and Beryt is digging his hands into the first man’s wound, chanting, ignoring his grunts of pain. 

“So,” Jeralt drops the blinds, and turns to face the princess again. “Ghouls or fexts?” The woman is silent for a moment before;

“Ghouls.” A surprisingly strong and commanding voice comes from her small body. 

“Ah, excellent. I was running a little low on glass bullets.” Jeralt grins, quickly taking the glass bullets out of the chamber replacing them with iron and lead. Byleth makes a few quick changes to the runes and then strides forward to join her father at the window, brushing past the second man and the woman, paying them no real mind anymore. 

_This is not what I had in mind when I asked to do something a little more fun._ Sothis muttered, a complaint that was ignored by her host.

“Guess we won’t be needing those memory potions.” She peered out as well, seeing something moving in the darkness, clutching her sword tighter. A long, pale, clawed, hand pressed into the light, testing it, skin peeling back from the knuckles. Jeralt finishes reloading his gun and nods towards the hand. The arm follows it into the lightly, a ghastly white, with pulsing blue veins. 

“Guess we won’t,” the creature, determining that the light was not that of the sun, steps into their sight until it was fully visible. A twisted, long humanoid creature with sickeningly pale skin, walking on all fours stopped in the light, crouching at the edge, sniffing the air with no nose. It’s skin was patchy and sliding off in places and a bloated purple tongue trailed out of a jaw that was open too wide to be natural. Byleth could hear a guttural growl come from it as it lowered it’s rotting head to the ground, where \a trail of blood led to their door, licking at it, its empty, greasy, white-green eyes following the trail to them. Once seeing the pair, it sat back on its haunches, cocked its pale, bald head, almost as if it were curiously appraising them. Then it howled, a horrible sound, that had both father and daughter wincing as one, its rotted and bloodied teeth on show to the night. A series of eerie howls echoed back, coming from all sides of the small office.

“Well,” Jeralt turned to face all of the occupants of the office. “Y’all got yourselves into some serious shit. Better buckle up, it’s going to be a long night.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight for their lives ends with new friends and a destroyed office

The creature charged at the building, slamming into the glass with a solid thud, the wards and glyphs flickering for a second before disappearing. It slobbered against the window, desperately licking at the blood stain that had been left there. This was the third time it had done this in the last ten minutes, testing the building’s strengths. So far the wards had held, but Byleth could tell they wouldn’t last much longer.

“The wards won’t hold much longer, especially as there is only one testing them right now.” Byleth announced her analysis to the room. Beryt was still on the ground, wrist deep in the blond man’s wound, slowly stitching it back together with his chanting. The white haired woman was talking to her father, clutching at her axe like she expected the family to turn on them at a seconds moment. The dark skinned man was watching the ghoul, eyes following the glyphs that continuously appeared and disappeared. 

“Were you able to see how many there were?” She could hear Jeralt ask the woman. 

“No, but it was bigger than any pack I’ve seen before.” 

“Like double or…?”

“Triple. Easily. We took out a few-”

“They’re down about seven ghouls.” The man by the window called over his shoulder without looking at the pair. Jeralt whistled, clearly impressed.

“That’s a considerable amount considering everything.” He nodded towards where his son was still treating the other man. 

“What are y’all packing?” The man strode over to where the pair were conversing, holding his bow out for Jeralt to inspect. He took it from the man, turning it over in his scarred hands. 

“We each have a weapon with runes and protections, some blessed water and -” The man patted his pockets looking for something, procuring a pouch that was not unsimilar to the pouch of salt that Byleth had given her brother earlier. “A handful of Almyran fire salts.” He held up the pouch.

“My axe is silver and forged in hellfires.” The woman says, stretching a hand out towards the man still on the floor. “Dimitri had a blessed lance, but it was dropped in our attempt to escape.” Jeralt nods and hands the man his bow back. 

“He won’t need it anyways, no a shot in hell he’s fighting like that. How many arrows do you have left?” The ghoul slammed into the window again, shaking the whole wall, glyphs shimmering weakly again. Byleth could see the shadows of more ghouls lurking just outside of the light, growing ever closer. 

“About two dozen. And a silver dagger.” 

“That’ll have to do.” Jeralt grunted as Byleth stepped away from the windows and the snarling ghoul.

“We’re almost out of time. You-” she pointed at the archer.

“Claude.”

“What?”

“My name is Claude.”

“Fine, Claude, take position behind the counter and act as our long range cover. Beryt,” Her brother looked up, removing his bloodied hands from Dimitri’s leg.

“I’ve done all I can with limited resources right now.” She reached into her bag, drawing out a bandage and a salve. He took them from her and began to wrap Dimitri’s leg, the man himself still not having said a word. “The deep muscle and tissue damage have been stitched together, but the wound is still deep. Luckily, it was only tears and nothing was missing. He won’t be able to fight though.” Beryt finished wrapping the man’s leg and began to pull him to his feet as Claude vaulted over the counter. Byleth nodded to him.

“Protect him and Claude then, get any that slip pass us.” Beryt nods, grabbing his swords and supporting Dimitri, leading him behind the counter to join Claude. Byleth turns to the white haired woman. 

“How good are you with that axe?” Bright violet eyes met hers, and Byleth drew a sharp breath in at the intensity that lingered under the surface. 

“I have a feeling you’re about to find out.” She twirled the hellforged blade with a disturbing amount of ease, a grin that did not meet her eyes graced her delicate features. 

“Then you’re at the front with us.” Byleth’s grip on her sword tightened, turning to the window again, where she could see more ghouls entering their line of sight. “Pa?”

“Got your back By.” 

“We have one, maybe two more hits before the wards fail. I say we drop them at the next hit to try to gain an advantage.” 

“There is something you should know.” The woman comes to stand beside her, flicking her long hair over her shoulder. Their eyes meet again, her intensity unnerving. “I believe an Ancient is with them.” Byleth cursed quietly under her breath.

“What gods did you piss off in a past life to deserve this?” 

“Who said it was a past life?” This time the grin is more genuine, a teasing glint entering her eyes, despite the seriousness of the situation. Byleth felt herself returning the grin.

“That’s relatable,”

_ If you are done with your flirting, I believe that now would be an ideal time,  _ she could hear Sothis but did not look to her. The woman seemed to shudder for a moment, eyes flickering around the room, as if looking for something. 

“You ready?” Byleth returns her attention to the window, where the first ghoul has been joined by two more flanking its side, growling to each other. One snaps at the first with its teeth, receiving a swipe of claws against its face in response.  _ Interesting,  _ Byleth thought to herself,  _ unified packs don’t do that. _ More than one pack then. The offending ghoul scitters back into the the shadows, another, bigger, meaner one emerging to take its place. It growls, and jerks its head to the window, the three monsters approaching. 

The woman beside her widens her stance and hefts her axe. “As ready as I could be.” Byleth risks a glance back at her father, who nods. She returns his nods and refocuses, reaching her free hand out towards the window, other hand gripping at the hilt of her sword. Once again, she closes her eyes, and reaches deep within herself, grasping at the thread that she knew to be holding the wards together. Her eyes open again, and she waits, watching the ghouls carefully. 

The three back up, then charge forward together. Just before they collide with the glass, Byleth twists and yanks her hand towards her and the runes flare to life, before disappearing completely.

The windows burst in, the ghouls now inside the building, stumbling at the lack of resistance that the beasts were expecting. They lurch to their hind legs with a hideous and triumphus shriek, a shriek that Byleth could hear echoing around the room and the response from outside. It’s cut short with a whistling axe arching through the air to cleave the head of the foremost ghoul’s head from its shoulders. The head flies through the air with a single hit, combusting, the body burning to ash almost instantly and Byleth is moving forward, plunging her sword deep into the chest of the second ghoul, the blessed water on the blade causing the rotted skin to bubble and one last growl to escape from its swollen lips, a putrid smell overwhelming Byleth’s nose. 

She shoves the now limp and rotted body off her blade, stepping back shoulder to shoulder with the woman as her father fires a single bullet between the third ghoul’s eyes, dropping it with no hesitation. 

“Effective.” She can hear her murmur.

“It’s what we do. Here they come.” No more words are exchanged between the two as Byleth can hear the slapping of rotted flesh against pavement as the horde of ghouls descended upon the office. They only had one point of entry, but it was easy enough for five to enter through that entryway within seconds. The first fell to a shriek, skin turning black and charred within seconds, having stepped on the blessed salt Beryt had laid on the threshold. The second sprouted an arrow from it’s forehead. Byleth ducked under a swiping, clawed rotting arm, snarling teeth coming to snap at her face, and swung her sword, severing the arm from the body. The ghoul yelped and backed off for a minute, a second lunging forward to take its place, meeting a quick end with Byleth driving the point of her sword through its skull. She takes two steps back, trying to give herself some space, and the other woman steps forward, axe swinging, taking out the last two ghouls with a single cleave. She steps back as well, flicking congealed green blood off the axe. The two ready their blades once again, as another wave of ghouls enter the front of the office, this time with more caution, creeping over the edge of the window and over the fallen forms of their packmates, snarling and snapping. 

For a moment the six ghouls and two women warily appraise each other, before one shrieks and charges forward, only to quickly be put down by a bullet to the brain. Two more quickly fall and the women charge forward, dispatching the last three with ease. They draw away from the window and fallen forms after, both panting slightly. The room was overcome with the stench of rotting flesh, choking Byleth, and she could see her father bring a sleeve up to his nose in disgust, blowing air, trying to dispel the stench from his nose. He always was more sensitive to smells then his children. 

“That was more than a pack’s worth.” Beryt calls to them. 

“There’s far more than just these few. I think the Ancient is leading them.” Claude responds.

“I’ve never seen this many working together like this.” Jeralt pushes more bullets into the chambers of his revolver as more and more ghouls stepped into the light from the office. Byleth could see that there were easily another packs worth of the rotting monsters gathering outside, and heard a loud growl that set her nerves on end. 

_ Byleth. You need to see this _ . Suddenly, her head rushed, and she was no longer inside of the office. Instead, she was in the parking lot, laying on top of the rotted bodies of ghouls, another large ghoul with bright red and black eyes face to face with her, growling. She couldn’t smell or feel anything but the fear that shot through her at the sight of the Ancient’s rotted teeth snapping at her, only being held back by her forearm pressed against its throat. She turned her head to the side, as a line of drool dripped onto her face, eyes squinting close, when she saw her father’s blank face and eyes meet hers. His head was there but his body was not and she choked out an empty cry at the sight of his slack, expressionless and dead face. Beyond his head, she could see the woman fighting off two more ghouls, clearly exhausted, swinging her axe with just one hand, the other bleeding profusely and hanging limply from her side. One ghoul leapt at her, and was batted to the side, sustaining an injury but still standing. Her back turned, the other bit into her injured shoulder and she cried out, feebly trying to grab the ghoul that had latched itself to her back. The second leapt forward again and tore at her throat. She fell, and the ghouls descended on her still twitching body in a spurt of blood, beginning to eagerly feast. Byleth’s vision went black, the last thing she saw was rotted teeth ripping at her face.

She gasps and stumbles back, the woman coming from behind her to support her suddenly weak knees. 

“Are you hurt?” Her violet eyes are surprisingly concerned for a woman that she had just met. Byleth mutely shakes her head, face burning at her intensity and pushes herself upwards. The woman’s hand lingers on her waist for a moment, making sure the blue haired woman would not stumble again. 

“If we don’t do some crowd control fast, we are going to be overwhelmed.” Her father says, firing another shot over their shoulders, a ghoul dropping like a bag of bricks. The other ghouls howl and start to advance carefully. Claude fires three arrows into the advancing pack, and two more ghouls drop. 

“I have an idea, but it’s not a good one.” Byleth pants out.

“At this point, I’m open to any ideas.” The ghouls crossed the threshold, five more coming at them. The white haired woman stepped forward, axe swinging through the air again. It connected with one ghoul’s chest, it howling as it erupted into flame and was pushed into another ghoul, causing that one to catch as well, as the woman ripped her axe from the first ghoul’s chest. The first ghoul disintegrated into ash, and the second charged forward with reckless abandon, still on fire but still very much alive - not that that lasted long, the axe separating its head from its shoulders. The woman fell back to Byleth’s side again, as the three remaining ghouls tried to flank her, axe at the ready. 

Byleth’s sword darted forward, seperating a rotting hand from its arm as it was raised to swipe at the woman, the severed limb falling to the ground with a sickening thud. The woman buried her axe in the offending skull, quickly dropping that ghoul as well, as Byleth swept forward, parrying a blow that was meant for the woman’s unguarded back, dispatching that ghoul. An arrow plunged into the third ghoul’s throat, releasing a fountain of foul smelling and green blood to cover the two women.

“Claude!” Byleth yelled. 

“What?! It was going to rake your eyes out!”

“What? No, not that, the fire salts! Do you have something to tie it to an arrow?” 

“Huh? Oh - oh that’s brilliant.” Byleth heard him rustle around for a moment, eyes on the approaching horde. There were easily a dozen and a huge, lurking form in the shadows coming towards the building, and coming fast. 

“Hurry up!” She called over her shoulder, eyes daring to flit back for a moment to where her brother was helping Claude tie the pouch of fire salts to an arrow.

“Almost ready…” The huge lurking form stopped for a moment, and howled, a sound that pierced Byleth’s eardrums, and made the other woman wince in pain, a hand coming up to rub at her temple. The crowd of ghouls starts to shuffle towards the small group of fighters more quickly, gaining speed.

“Claude!” 

“Ready!” Byleth heard the twange of a bow string, and felt the arrow launch past her, the wind brushing her cheek. It sailed into the chest of the leading ghoul, causing it to trip and stumble, falling to the ground and tripping up two more ghouls before suddenly bursting into a wild red, raging flame. The flame quickly carried down the line of ghouls incinerating the ones close enough for the flame to jump to, their howls echoing into the night as they were reduced to ash. Soon there was a wall of red flame between the fighters and the remaining few ghouls, eliminating the rest of the pack.

There were four small ghouls remaining, but these ones seemed more intelligent, hanging back and circling the flame, waiting for it to die down - as if knowing that Almyran fire salts did not give life to a lasting fire. The large form was illuminated as well, revealing a beast easily twice as large as the other ghouls. It raised itself off of its forearms, standing to its full height, easily seven feet, and let out an unearthly howl, black and slobbering teeth revealed to the night sky, red eyes flashing in the flames. With no concern to itself, it stepped through the flames unbothered as they licked at its skin, it’s eyes fixed upon its prey. This ghoul was indeed a powerful Ancient.

“Well, that’s disconcerting.” Beryt murmured. Jeralt fired his gun twice, the muzzle glowing in a mystical light, stepping forward to stand beside his daughter. One of the smaller ghouls dropped and the Ancient jerked back for a second at the impact of the bullet against its shoulder. The bullet, however, did not find purchase in it’s skin, just dropping to the ground, crushed, only a small scratch inflicted. Jeralt’s brow furrowed. 

“That’s not good at all.”

“I’m almost out of arrows.” Claude informed them as he released another arrow into a ghoul, dropping that one as well, leaving just two and the approaching Ancient. 

“I’m out of ideas, except fight like hell.” Byleth readied her sword, bringing it up. She saw the woman do the same beside her.

“We have to engage it outside, this is too close quarters for us to take a beast of that size on.” The woman’s voice was exhausted, the effort of feeding her hellforged axe energy and swinging it depleting her strength. Byleth knew the feeling, her own arms growing heavy, but still wary of the vision that Sothis had shown her. 

“Claude, Pa, can you take out the two small ghouls?” She was answered by one of the ghouls growing an arrow and dropping to the ground. The other ducked a bullet with ease and started charging towards them, running on all fours past the lumbering Ancient and into the building. Jeralt fired another shot as it jumped in the air, planning to sink its teeth into one of them, the impact of the bullet causing it to go flying back.

“That works. Give us some long range support - we know its skin is tough, so target its joints so we can finish it.” Byleth nodded towards the great beast as her father and Claude grunted their support. She turned to the woman.

“We’re going to have to bring it down at the knees.” The woman nodded.

“Together?”

“Together.” They hefted their weapons and began to exit the building, slowly approaching. When the Ancient saw their approach, it stopped and waited, snarling at the two as they started to circle it. The flames behind the beast were dying down, but there were enough that the pair would not be able to completely flank it, the beast keeping the flames to its back, following the pair with its eyes.

As soon as Byleth was in range, it swiped a long arm, forcing her to jump back to avoid the black claws raking her chest open. The other woman used the beast’s distraction to her advantage, rushing forward to slice at the back of its leg. It was ready for that, however, whirling around with an open hand and extended claws, forcing her to stop mid swing and bring the axe head up to protect her chest, the force of the blow pushing her back. The beast's hand wrapped around the head of the axe, uncaring the blade it cut into its skin, and yanked at it, yet the woman refused to let go, being dragged forward with it. Its other hand raised, clearly planning to claw the white haired woman in half, only for Byleth to rush forward and catch the second hand on the flat of her blade. The Ancient howled at the pair of women, mouth opening wide, revealing black teeth and fangs, red and black eyes alight with rage, and spittle flying out, hitting the women with the smell of rotting flesh in a hot sun. The white hair woman twisted her axe, freeing it from the monster’s grip, causing it to lose balance and stumble forward and earn a swipe of the axe against its face, opening up a wound to spurt the horrid green blood, before the woman backed off again, avoiding a second swipe.

Byleth twisted her blade as well, freeing it, and jumped back in time to avoid the swipe. The beast roared in anger and pain and lurched forward, teeth snapping at where Byleth had been seconds before, catching nothing but empty air, a hand coming down to support itself as it dropped back down to all fours. 

The woman and Byleth retreated a few feet, and the beast and women began to circle each other once again, warily watching, waiting to see who would make the first move. Blood was leaking from the Ancient’s wounds, but it was only angered, still more than ready to fight for its prey. It lurched forward, a clawed hand raised in a blow that would be too powerful to block and brought it down, slamming it into the asphalt where the white haired woman had been, causing it to crack and crumble as she rolled away. Byleth rushed to its unprotected side and tried to plunge her sword deep into its ribs, succeeding but not by much. The skin was unnaturally thick for a ghoul; the sword should’ve sank in up to its hilt, but only sank a few inches. The ghoul howled in pain and whipped its arm back, colliding it into Byleth’s side with a great force, knocking the breath out of her lungs and sending her flying back. Byleth braced herself to crash into the hard wall and break a few ribs, yet the hard wall never came. Instead, her flight was cushioned by a softer body, an arm wrapping around her waist. The two went tumbling, head over heels, coming to a stop with Byleth looking down into violet eyes.

“You alright?” her arm was still wrapped around Byleth’s waist, pressing their hips close, free hand clutching at her axe.

“I feel like I should be asking you that question.” Byleth wheezed in pain. Maybe a few ribs were broken, despite not hitting the wall. She quickly scrambled off the other woman, ignoring the heat she could feel building inside of her, and reaching down to pull the white haired woman to her feet, eyes finding the Ancient ghoul advancing on them quickly, Byleth’s sword still stuck in its side, its eyes angered and snarling, spit dripping out of its mouth. Something pressed into her hands, and Byleth hissed in sudden pain - silver.

The woman had pressed a silver dagger into Byleth’s hand, and she took it, ignoring the burning sensation as best she could as she held it in a reverse grip. It wouldn’t do much against an Ancient of this size, but it was better than nothing. The beast charged at them, then lurched back as several arrows sprouted from its shoulder. It howled in pain.

“Let’s finish this.” The woman told Byleth, who nodded and, together, they charged forward, taking advantage of the ghoul’s attention being diverted to Claude. The woman swung her axe at the beasts knees, making contact with a sickening crunch, causing the creature to fall forward on its front, it’s leg no longer supporting it. 

The ghoul growled and swiped towards the woman blindly, who dodged with ease as Byleth raced forward and jumped on its back, quickly scrambling up its spine to wrap her arms around its neck. She pressed the blade of silver against its neck and began sawing against the tough skin as quickly as she could, ignoring how the silver metal burned at her skin. 

The beast howled, one arm coming up to grab at Byleth, only to be distracted by the other woman smashing her axe into its previously uninjured leg. Thick green blood began to flow over Byleth’s hands, making it harder to cut as the blade began to find a slippery purchase. The beast lurched forward and the blade dug deeper, jarring Byleth forward slightly, causing her head to collide with the back of the creature’s skull, making her see stars. 

Byleth could see the woman dash to the front of the beast and plunge her axe into the hand that was supporting its weight, pinning it to the asphalt and crushing it. With nothing to support its weight, the Ancient ghoul crashed the ground with a growl, and Byleth finally released her hold on its neck, rolling free, springing to her feet next to the woman. The beast weakly raised its last limb in a desperate attempt to swipe at them, a swipe that was easily batted aside by the axe. Blood was flowing out of its throat and it was choking on it, drowning slowly.

“Would you like the honors?” Byleth wheezed, out of breath, with a mocking bow gesturing toward the beast. The woman nodded and strode forward ignoring the weakly threatening growls. The hand tried to come up again, but Byleth stepped on it, crunching the wrist beneath her foot. It howled in pain one last time before it was silenced forever by the woman’s axe separating its head. The ghastly head rolled forward and came to a stop before Byleth, mouth frozen in a snarl, and a hideous stench preminating from it.

“Well, that’s disgusting.” Byleth brought a sleeve up to her nose, forgetting that it was covered in the same disgusting blood and accidently smearing even more of it under her nose.

“Oh come on!” She held her arms out in disgust, flicking her wrists, trying to get the blood off. A pleasant sound stopped her movements; the other woman was laughing, a mesmerizing sound that Byleth found she wanted to hear again. The woman removed her axe from the ghoul’s stump of a neck and approached Byleth.

“I hope you weren’t too attached to that outfit, ‘cause despite how good you looked in it, I don’t think you’re ever going to get those stains out.” There was an infectious smile on her face, one that caused the corners of Byleth’s mouth to twitch in response. Byleth was wearing a black t-shirt that said “Merc’s & Hunting Services”, the name of her father’s shop and a red and black flannel. 

“The t-shirt I could do without, but I was rather fond of this flannel and these pants. They have pockets!” Byleth mourned the loss of her clothing. “Though I don’t think your outfit is in much better shape.” The woman’s outfit in question was a red hoodie and black pants, now stained irrecoverably in green blood. Nevertheless, she grinned at Byleth.

“Are you kidding?” She flicked her hair “This is my new style; I call it Ghouls blood and more. What do you think?” she struck a pose, jutting a hip out, hand on it and the other resting her axe on her shoulder. 

“Very fashionable, definitely gonna set a new trend, though I do recommend you do something about the smell - not nearly as nice.” The woman laughed again, and Byleth had to shake herself from staring, instead marching over to the large body and pulling her sword out of its ribs, causing another spurt of blood to cover her. 

“Really?” she sighed. There was another chuckle from the woman as she joined Byleth’s side looking down at the monster in the dying flames.

Byleth sighed, stretching her tired arms out. “We should rejoin the others,” The other woman nodded, hefting her axe onto her shoulder, and looking behind her with a grimace.

“Sorry about your shop.” Byleth followed her gaze. The windows were blown in, the foyer completely destroyed from what Byleth could see from the parking lot, her father and brother pushing ghoul bodies out of the window, Claude watching them. Above the window, somehow their sign that normally read “Merc’s & Hunter Services”, only read “Merc’s ices,” The rest of the letters scattered around the lot.

“I’m not even going to ask what happened to the sign.” Byleth sighed, hand coming up to rest on her chest with a wince. The woman looked at her.

“How bad?” She asked, coming to stand before her, tugging her shirt up to take a look. Byleth couldn’t fight the blush and allowed her to do so, averting her eyes as the woman felt along the blossoming bruises, causing Byleth to wince again. 

“A couple of broken ribs, a few scratches, but I think that's it. You?” Her eyes fell to the woman’s face. There was a scratch on her scalp, dying her white hair red. She shrugged. 

“Nothing is broken, a few bumps and bruises. A scratch or two. C’mon.” With that, she slung Byleth’s arm over her shoulder and, despite Byleth not really needing the support, she leaned against the woman as they limped their way back to the shop together. 

“What’s your name? You never said it.” Byleth rasped out.

“Edelgard. My name is Edelgard.” A beautiful name that seemed to fit just right in Byleth’s mouth as she tried it out.

“Well Edelgard, it’s a pleasure to meet you, despite the unfortunate circumstances.” The woman, Edelgard, laughed again, throwing her head back.

“Stop making me laugh, it hurts.” But it was such a nice laugh, Byleth didn’t really want to stop, even though it was likely the other woman was only laughing so much due to exhaustion. 

“My name’s Byleth.” She could see Edelgard smile, white teeth glinting in the night.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Byleth. And I believe, once we get cleaned up and dispose of the bodies, I should find a proper way to thank you for your assistance tonight.” They grew closer to the office, the light from within illuminating the two, Jeralt looking up, concern and relief crossing his face at the sight of his daughter, who’s face felt warm, something that did not happen very often. 

“No need to do so, it’s what we do.” 

“The least I can do is have our school pay for damages and reparations.”

“School?” Edelgard gives her a puzzled look. 

“Garreg Mach University? Where we learned monster hunting? Aren’t you an alumn?” Byleth shook her head, feeling her face pale in a way that was not due to pain. Her father was not going to be happy at this news, pretty boys and girls be damned. The man in question was coming towards them, and Byleth braced herself for what was going to be a rather long discussion. It made her almost wish that they were still fighting ghouls

_ No it doesn’t,  _ Sothis reappeared looking all too smug, if a little concerned. Byleth glared at her,  _ I said almost, _ she hissed, causing the young girl to roll her eyes and disappear from her sight again. Jeralt reached them quickly and took Byleth’s weight from Edelgard, helping her back into the office, where her brother rightened an overturned chair for her to be eased into. The night was almost done, but Byleth had a feeling that it was far from over, raising her eyes to observe the three students that had stumbled into their lives, upending their somewhat peaceful night.

_ This does not bode well for us... _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So let's chat. Edelgard makes an offer, a mystery is found, and Jeralt is too old for this shit.

Byleth let out a small grunt of pain as Beryt pressed his glowing hand against her ribs, snapping the bones back into place. 

“Stop being such a baby.” She offers no response to her brother’s light teasing, and only wincing when he jabbs at the wounded ribs.

“They’re no longer broken, but still sprained; healing Dimitri’s leg took most of my energy.” He nods to where the aforementioned man was now standing with the support of the counter, conversing with their father.

“Impressive,” Byleth’s voice is flat, despite the praise. 

“He bounced back from that wound rather quickly.”

“It’s probably more from your magic then any innate abilities of his own.” Beryt grunts, neither confirming nor denying what his sister said. He was kneeling in front of her, where she still sat on the chair, taking her hands in his own, ignoring the hiss of pain. 

“Didn’t I tell you to avoid silver?” Beryt chides her quietly, where the others could not hear, hands glowing slightly again, healing the burn marks on her hands, leaving nothing but what looked to be old scars, as if the wounds had been healed years ago, not mere moments. 

“Do try to be more careful around silver, dumbass,” He whispers to her.

“Not like I had much of a choice, it was silver or ghoul’s teeth.” 

Beryt stood, stretching his legs from being in a crouched position, and Byleth leaned back against the chair, careful to watch her posture to avoid aggravating her ribs any more than necessary. He turned his back to her, leaving her to observe their new allies alone as Beryt made his way to Edelgard, looking over the woman’s wounds. 

The archer, Claude stood talking with their father, who wore an expression of exasperation, one hand crossed on his chest, the other braced against it cupping his face and eyebrows furrowed, apparently displeased by what the other man was saying. Dimitri was watching the two men with narrowed eyes, still leaning against the counter, a cold look marring his otherwise handsome face. 

“I should check -”

“No thank you,” Byleth is pulled out of her quiet observations of the men by her brother’s and Edelgard’s voices. Beryt’s hand is reached out towards Edelgard, who stood back, hands crossed almost protectively before her. Beryt shrugs, and withdraws his hand. 

“If you insist. But you really should get checked out.” Edelgard gives a quick, short nod, stepping away from Beryt, closer to where Byleth was sitting. 

“Not a fan of blessed magic?” Edelgard raises a brow at Byleth, frown tugging at her mouth. Behind her, Byleth can see her father and brother start moving ghoul bodies from within their little office to the outside, into a singular pile. 

“Don’t like being touched.” She took a seat across from Byleth, setting her axe down so that it was leaning on the chair beside her. The white haired woman crossed her legs, her posture impeccable and arched an eyebrow towards Byleth.

“So,” She begins, folding her hands on her lap. “A family of hunters, just outside of Garreg Mach’s jurisdiction?” Byleth suddenly finds the other woman’s hands the most fascinating things in the room, noticing for the first time that she wore what were once fine white gloves, now stained with ghoul’s blood. 

“Didn’t realize their territory had grown.” She grunts, meeting Edelgard’s pale amethyst eyes. They were curious and analyzing, narrowed in shrewd observation as she studied the blue-haired woman across from her. Her expression is almost as blank as Byleth’s own, if it were not for slight downward curve of her narrow lips.

“The local pack surrendered their lands in exchange for protection.” The downward curve twitches a little further before it is smoothed over again. Byleth nods.

“We’ll be gone by morning, no need to worry yourselves about invasion.”

“I was not worried.” Byleth’s head tilts, but her face does not change.

“Rather, I was hoping to enlist you and your family. Your fighting skills are quite something to behold.” Her right hand raises almost lazily as she gestures as she speaks.

“My house is an ancient one, a leader within the Conclave, with the allegiances of several other ancient houses. You would benefit greatly from a similar union.” 

_ Well, that’s rather abrupt.  _ Sothis floats lazily behind Edelgard, Byleth’s eyes flitting to the apparition then back to the young woman quickly.  _ Though I do suppose your family must have impressed her greatly for her to be making such an offer to a near stranger.  _ Byleth couldn’t help but agree. What need did a house with so many apparent allegiances have need of a few unsworn hunters?

“You presume we are unsworn.”

“Forgive me, but no presumptions were made. You bear no sigils and work in unclaimed territory. Your methods are not from any aligned school nor house.” She tilts her head towards the men. “And your father reacted negatively upon hearing the name Garreg Mach.”

“What if we have no desire to join with Garreg Mach.” Edelgard’s lips twitch again, this time into something more full. A wry grin graces her features. 

“I am not asking you to ally with Garreg Mach, but rather with the Hresvelg House.”

“Is that not the same thing?” She looks almost offended for a moment, opening her mouth to retort. 

“Princess I do so hope you’re not trying to get a leg up on the rest of us by recruiting this wonderous woman before the rest of us have even had a chance to speak with her!” She’s interrupted by an offensive yellow clad arm being thrown over her shoulders, right through Sothis, who shouted in annoyance. Edelgard’s eyebrows pinch together, an annoyed look crossing her face as she shrugs out from underneath Claude’s arm. He was unbothered by the white haired woman’s coldness, instead giving Byleth a wink and an easy going smile that didn’t quite reach his calculating eyes, oblivious to Sothis cursing him out. 

“Now, you haven’t accepted any offers from her Highness before hearing what the rest of us have to offer, have you?” Dimitri and her brother had followed the other man over, the three men towering over the two seated women. Byleth stood so that she did not have to look up at them, and Edelgard copied her movements, scooping up her axe as she did so, casually bracing it against her shoulder, now full on scowling at Claude. Beryt moves to his sister’s side, concern pinching at his brows for a brief moment as she stands, hand coming to rest on her arm, before quickly dropping to his side. Byleth tilted her head towards the archer, as Sothis floats over to Edelgard, appearing to rest her head against the white haired woman’s own. Edelgard flicked her hair back and rubbed her arm, looking slightly perturbed. 

“I am not currently looking for any offers of employment.” Byleth tells the two men. 

“Nonetheless,” Claude cheerfully stood to his full height for a moment before over dramatically sweeping into low, almost mocking bow. “It’s only fair that you hear our offers after Eledgard’s no doubtedly illustrious offer.” He straightens and turns his grin into the largest smile he could. 

“I am of House Riegan, preeminent house of the Leicester Alliance of the Conclave. If you were to swear to us, I believe that we would all benefit greatly.”  _ Strange, _ Byleth hears Sothis muse,  _ he neither promises anything or extracts promises. It seems he knows better than to offer something he can’t be sure if he can follow through on.  _ Not about to be overshadowed, Dimitri steps forward as well, placing his fisted right hand over his heart and bowing at the waist, blonde hair briefly falling in his eyes before he straightens and brushing the loose strands out of his face. 

“I am Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.” He smiles warmly, but his blue eyes are as cold as ice and the furrow between his brows seems to be permanent. “Of House Blaiddyd, the leading House of the Faerghus Union of the Conclave. Our Union would benefit greatly from your family’s strength and skills.” He bows his head again, this time to her brother, who has stood by Byleth’s side quietly.  _ There is something wrong with his aura.  _ Byleth’s eyes flick to the young girl where she still hovered over Edelgard, watching Dimitri with a look of unease. She silently appraises the three envoys of different Houses of the Conclave who watch her and her brother with interest as Beryt steps forward. 

“We appreciate your offers,” His face is carefully schooled into a blank slate, a mimicry of his sister’s resting expression. “But we have no interest in serving a House of the Conclave, nor are we the deciders of our family’s endeavours. You’d have a better chance making your cases to our father.” He looks past the trio, pursing his lips together in a slightly bemused fashion. “Who is currently poking at dead things with far too much interest.” Byleth and the other three followed Beryt’s gaze to Jeralt, who was indeed crouched over the pile where he had finished gathering all of the ghouls' bodies. They watched as he pulled a body out, flipping it on its back and beginning to examine it. 

_ Your father is odd, but he never does anything without reason.  _ Even Sothis had turned her interest to the older man.

“Erm, not to be rude or anything, but what in the Goddess’s Good Name is your father doing?” Dimitri voiced what they were all thinking. Beryt shrugs, equally confused. 

“Let’s find out.” Byleth starts forward, brushing past the three almost strangers, strides long and confident as she makes her way to her father. The other four exchange a shrug before following closely behind her. It takes no time at all for the group to reach Jeralt, who doesn’t even look up as they approach. Byleth crouches next to him without prompting and he sighs quietly, looking up to meet her gaze. A disconcerted look tugs at his face, the old scar on his face appearing vicious and fresh in the flickering lamp light and dying embers. The ghoul’s body was splayed before them, throat pierced by a broken arrow shaft, and a rather terrible smell emanating from it. The old man tugs at its wrist, turning it so the inside of its arm is bared to the night sky. He gestures to it.

“Whaddya make of that, kid?” Byleth looks to where her father indicated, hand coming down to the pale and rotted arm. Its deep blue veins still bulge against its pale skin, twining over the emancipated, almost delicate arm. Alongst the inside of it were scars - but not kind one would expect from ghouls - rough, wild, and messy. No, these scars were neat, precise, almost surgical, and ran up the center of its arm, one wrapping around the wrist as well. Byleth frowns, and the other four lean over her shoulder, examining the strange scars as well. Byleth quickly checks the other arm, finding it in a similar state, neat scars. She looks to her father again, who has sat back on his heels, watching them examine the body.

“Are they all like this?” He nods.

“From what I could tell. It’s disturbing.” He stands, stretching out of the crouch, popping his back loudly as he does. “Stand back.” They listen, allowing the man to roll the creature to its front, showing them its back. It’s knobby, pale back was also covered in neat scars, the scars aligning so that it looked like the ghoul’s skin had been carefully peeled back from its body and then healed again.

“They were tortured?” Dimitri asks as Beryt crouches next to the ghoul’s body, running a finger against the scars. He shakes his head, looking as disturbed as his father.

“No,” he pokes at an irregular bulge at the base of the ghouls neck, just under where Claude’s arrow jutted out. “They were experimented on.” He quickly pulls the arrow out of the creature’s neck holding it up for Claude to take, who takes it, a disgusted, but thoughtful look on his face. 

“Why?” He asks as he cleans the arrow, placing it back into his quiver. Besides him, Edelgard’s fist clench and unclench, jaw working angrily, and gloved nails digging into the handle of her axe. 

“Who knows.” Beryt pulls an iron dagger out from his belt, reopening the long healed wound at the base of the ghoul’s skull. Thick green blood slowly oozes out as he digs the tip of the knife in roughly, poking at something as the other watch in a kind of fascinated horror. Something small and round pops out after a little digging, covered in ghoul’s blood and Beryt quickly catches it before it hits the ground cleaning it, and his dagger, off on the edge of his shirt as he stands and sheathes the dagger. He holds it up for the others to see.

“But maybe this can help us find out.” It’s a tiny orb, a dull black covered in an intricate symbol. The three strangers peer at it. 

“That looks an awful lot like a miniature Crest Stone.” Claude notes. Jeralt takes it from his son, holding it up to his eye with a disgusted look before tossing it at the trio. Dimitri quickly catches it, surprised looks crossing all three of their faces. 

“This should help you figure out your mystery.” He says gruffly to the trio, turning away and shuffling the body back into the pile. He looks to Beryt and then nods at the pile. Beryt steps forward, next to his father, and whispers into his cupped hands, quickly conjuring a flame. He turns his hands towards the pile of twice dead corpses. It takes no time at all for the mage flame to completely engulf the pile in a bright blaze.

“What do you mean with our mystery?” Edelgard asks Jeralt, not taking her eyes off of the makeshift pyre before them. 

“This is your problem.” Jeralt turns to face the group, arms crossed across his chest as Beryt and Byleth come to stand besides him, like they were two silent shadows of his. “The ghouls were clearly after you and you alone. We helped cause we could but beyond that,” The large man shrugs carelessly. “Not our problem.”

“You aren’t the least bit curious about this?” Claude butts in. Beryt bites his lip, avoiding the other man’s gaze. 

“No.” Jeralt answered but Byleth silently disagreed; she was indeed curious but her father held the tone of a man who would not be brokered with. Sothis disagreed much more vocally, although only Byleth could hear her. Dimitri was still studying the orb in the palm of his hand, cradling it as if he were afraid he’d crush it if he were to close his hand around it. A haughty look crosses Edelgard’s face.

“Very well,” With that, she turns away, long white hair flicking with the movement, and back stiff. Byleth watched her march back to the office, her red shirt appearing to glow if the flickering flame that warmed her back. Beryt, still avoiding Claude’s eyes, looks back to the fire, turning the heat up until sweat drips down his face and the bodies are reduced to nothing but ash. He waves his hand over the fire and, as quickly as it was there, it was gone. It took Beryt mere seconds to burn all of the bodies with his mage fire, and now the wind tugged at the ashes that remained, spreading them into the night. Claude sighs loudly, tugging Dimitri’s focused attention away from the orb in his hand. He quickly presses it into Claude’s hand, seemingly relieved not to be holding it any longer. 

“I can see that you’re not a man who changes his mind easily.” Claude tells Jeralt as he pockets the orb. “While I wish you’d reconsider, I know better than to waste my breath.”

“First wise words I’ve heard all night.” Jeralt grumbles and begins to make his way back to the office, Claude falling instep with him, as the twins follow behind. Dimitri stands in place for a second, staring off into the darkness that shrouded the parking lot, before shaking his head and limping behind the group as well. Beryt falls back after a moment and offers his support to the blonde man, who graciously accepts, leaning on the shorter man. Byleth remains behind her father listening to his one sided conversation.

“Our supervisor should be here soon.” Claude cheerfully informs him, receiving a grunt in reply. “Then we’ll be out of your hair.” 

“Convenient for them to show up after the fight.” Claude shrugs, unbothered by the rude comment. “First faculty free hunt.” He supplies as the group enters the building. Edelgard was leaning against the counter, glaring at her shoes as she chewed on her lip, clearly deep in thought. Her phone was held loosely in her hand, tapping against the counter. 

“I already called him and he should be here any minute.” True to his word, Byleth could hear the rumbling of a car in the distance and could just barely see headlights piercing through the murky darkness. Cheerful music could be heard floating out from the night as well. 

“Ah, I believe that is Alios now!” Claude scooped his bow from where he had dropped it on the counter earlier, and made his way out the door to flag down the car. 

“Wait did you say -” He was gone before Jeralt could finish his sentence. 

“Oh Goddess,” He muttered, dragging a hand down his face. “Anyone but him, please.” The car was closer now, and Byleth could just barely see a large, hairy arm waving enthusatically at Claude as a dark blue mini-van came to a stop in front of the office. The car was quickly shut off, the door opened, and out bound a large man in a white, leather armour with an impressivley large shoulder guard and an equally impressive moustache. A large grin took up his face and he all but bellowed at Claude.

“Claude my boy!” A large hand came down on Claude’s shoulder and, even at this distance, Byleth could see the archer’s knees buckle slightly at the weight. “I was so relieved to get your call! But most concerned! Now where is this family of hunters you told me about?” The man looks around at the destroyed office, eyes lingering on the bloodstains and overturned furniture, skipping past Beryt and Dimitri, and only stopping on Edelgard for a brief second before locking on the spot where Jeralt and Byleth stood. His eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open, looking like he had seen a ghost, the man was stunned into silence, something that Byleth was sure did not happen often for him. His mouth opens and closes like he was trying to speak, but no words came out as he strode forward to stop before the pair.

“By the Goddess…” He murmured quietly, almost to himself. 

“Jeralt Eisner, is that you my old friend?” Jeralt’s hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh.

“Of course it’s him, why wouldn’t it be him. By the Goddess, I’m too old for this shit.” Byleth just barely heard him mutter to himself, before dropping his hand, forcing a pained looking smile onto his face. 

“Heya, Alios. Looks like you got old.” The man, Alios laughs in bewilderment for a moment before sweeping Jeralt into a bear hug, to the surprise of his children, who stared at this strange man who was manhandling their father.

“Jeralt, you old fox, you haven’t aged a day!” He set their father back on the ground, but did not let go, holding him at arms length to study him with a large grin. “Rhea will be so glad to see you again!” Jeralt tensed at the name Rhea, before dropping his chin in defeat slightly. 

“Yeah, I suppose she will.” He sighs, surprising his children even further, who exchanged a private glance between them. Did that mean they were going to accompany this motley group to Garreg Mach University? Jeralt shrugs out of Alios’s grip, turning to his kids. 

“Go grab the night bags and basic supplies.” He says gruffly. “Looks like we’re headed to Garreg Mach.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, with quarantine, work has super picked up and I've been kept very busy. Hope everyone is doing well and retaining their sanity during this time. Shorter chapter this time round tho. On another note, I'd like to ask a question or two: would y'all like to see Beryt and Byleth as full or half supernaturals or full humans? I've been debating but would like to hear what y'all would think. Over the next few days, I think I am going to go back through the first few chapters and fix a few mistakes. Leave a comment below please, and stay safe out there!


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